Closures for clean-out openings in drain traps and for other purposes



INVENTOR PETER vALl-:nrmo

ATTORNEY TRAPS AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES Filed April l0, 1963 P. VALENTINOCLOSURES FOR CLEAN-OUT OPENINGS IN DRAIN United States Patent O3,182,679 CLOSURES FOR CLEAN-OUT OPENINGS IN DRAIN TRAPS ANI) FOR OTHERPURPOSES Peter Valentino, 565 Autumn Ave., Brooklyn, NX. Filed Apr. 10,1953, Ser. No. 272,010 '3 Claims. (Cl. IS7-247.51)

This invention relates to clean-out plugs and is applicable to all casesor installations where a plug is utilized to close an opening into apipe, chamber, compartment or the like, so that the plug may be removedto gain access through the opening.

In an application of the invention as herein disclosed, it is shown asapplied to the clean-out opening of a drain trap which forms part of theconnection of a house drain to a sewer, septic tank, or the like.

Such drain traps are usually positioned in a sump pit provided in thecellar door, and in a majority of cases the plug is rarely removed. As aconsequence of attachment of the plug over a long period, when theoccasion arises that the plug must b' removed, it is necessary to applya powerful force to the plug to loosen it, owing to corrosion of thethreads on the plug and those on the drain opening or nipple. Usually aheavy and long Wrench is the only tool capable of applying the necessaryturning force upon the plug, but since the pit is narrow it is difficultif not impossible to apply a wrench with a sufficiently long handle.rllhus it is a time consuming and laborious job to remove the plug.

Further, when the plug has finally been removed, it is found that thethreads on the plug or on the trap opening, or on both, have beendamaged to such an extent that it is no longer possible to screw theplug down securely, and if and when it has again been screwed down theinterengagement of the threads is far weaker than orginally, so that aslight rise in pressure in the drain will lift, tilt, or even push outthe plug, which is obviously a most undesirable condition.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide new anduseful improvements in clean-out openings and plugs therefor, which arenot only easily removed for access through the opening but which arealso very simple to install and to reinstall after removal.

It is a further object lof the invention to provide novel and usefulimprovements in clean-out openings and plugs for drain traps in sewerconnections in houses and buildings.

The above broad as well as additional and more specific objects will beclarified in the following description wherein reference numerals referto like-numbered parts in the accompanying drawing. It is to be notedthat the drawing is intended primarily for the purpose of illustrationand that it is therefore neither desired nor intended to limit theinvention necessarily to any or all of the details shown or describedexcept in so far as they may be deemed essential to the invention. e

Referring briefly to the drawing,

FIG. l is a side elevational View of a sewer connection having a draintrap, with the latter mounted in a pit dug in the cellar floor,illustrating an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2 is an exploded View, with the various parts in section either inwhole or in part, of the elements of the invention.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the assembled attachment to the drain pipeopening, showing in phantom the closure plug in position ready to betapped firmly in place.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of the assembled attachment with the closureplug in iinal closing position.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view of a fragment of the drain pipe and theattaching sleeve mounted therein.

3,182,679 Patented May 11, 1965 ICC FIG. 6 is a fragmentaryelevationalview of a modified form of plug.

Referring in detail to the drawing, the numeral 10 indicates a cellarfloor having a pit 11 sunk thereinto. A house sewer connection is shownat 12 and it includes the trap 13 having the riser 14 which is open atthe top 15. In customary installations, the riser has internal threads,not shown, into which a cast iron closure plug is screwed.

In one form in which the instant invention is applicable, the riser 14has a circumferential internal gouge which provides a shoulder 17. Acast iron ferrule 16 is set into the opening 15 and rests upon theshoulder 17, and a iiange 19 at the base of the ferrule provides acircumferential recess which is filled with lead 18 to seal the joint ina well known manner.

At its upper end the ferrule has a series of axially spaced and parallelcircumferential grooves or threads 20. A tapering lead sleeve 21, havingat the top of the tapering wall 22 an external flange 23, also has onthe outside of the wall 22 a series of axially spaced alternatingcircumferential grooves and ridges 24 and 25, respectively. The internalgrooved wall of the ferrule may be made to taper in a downward directionat substantially or approximately the same degree of taper as the wall22, not shown.

A preferably hollow cast iron plug is shown at 26, and its tapering wall30 has substantially the same degree of taper as the wall 22 of thesleeve 21. However, the diameter of the bottom edge of the plug islarger than the bottom internal diameter of the sleeve 21, and thediameter of the top edge of the plug is larger than that of the topinternal diameter of the sleeve. This is indicated by the verticalbroken lines which extend between the plug and the sleeve in FIG. 2.

With the `ferrule 16 mounted on the riser 14 as set forth above, thelead sleeve 21 is inserted into the top opening thereof and hammeredinto the position thereof shown in FIG. 3. The plug 26 is then set intothe sleeve. The outer tapering surface 27 of the plug is not perfectlysmooth, as the plug is not machined after it has been cast so that thissurface is covered by the imprints of grains of sand left by the mold inwhich it was cast. Thus this surface is covered by minute pock marks andpeaks, and it may be stated to be relatively rough or tumbled. Ifdesired, however, this surface may be machined to the extent ofproviding axially spaced grooves 28 as, for example, is shown for theplug 26a in FIG. 6.

The plug is then gent-ly tapped with a hammer at a number of places toforce it downward int-o the lead sleeve. During this operation thetapering wall of the plug deforms the wall of the sleeve by spreading itradially and thus forcing the relatively soft lead thereof into thegrooves 2t) of the ferrule 16, substantially as shown in FIG. 4. A-t thesame time, especially as the plug approaches the end of its downwardItravel, the rough surface 27 of the plug deforms the inner surface ofthe wall 22 to form an interlocking of the Wall of the plug with thesleeve. The interlocking of the sleeve 21 on the ferrule 16 and of theplug in the sleeve result, of course, from the relative softness of thelead compared with the hardness of the iron of the plug and the ferrule.The plug is provided with the customary boss 29, and it is readilyloosened 4for removal by a few taps with a hammer on the sides of theboss and, if necessary, on the edges of the plug which project above theflange 23 of the sleeve 21.

The structure thus far described assures not only a tight and secureretention of the plug to close the cleanout opening, but also greatlysimplifies the operation of attaching the plug and removing it. Theusual difiiculty of removing a cast iron or brass plug from a cast ironpipe into which the plug has been screwed and in which it has remainedundisturbed for a long time, is well known. Such difficulty is entirelyeliminated by the present invention, as is also the need for a powerfulwrench. The mounting of the ferrule 16 in the drain upright 14 alsoelevates the opening into the trap into a handier position.

The lead sleeve 21 and the plug 26 may also be used directly upon thecustomary upright of such drain traps, which is internallyscrew-threaded and receives a screw plug, as a replacement after theoriginal plug has been removed but is not replaceable on the riser. lnsuch cases the leadsleeve 21 is hammered into the opening as before, anda new plug like the plug 26 is hammered into the sleeve. Here also theplug, in being tapped into place by a hammer, will force the outersurface of the sleeveV into the screw threads of the riser opening.After a plug 2 6 has been removed from a clean-out opening containingthe lead sleeve 21, it may be replaced with the interposition of a freshllead sleeve, or the same old sleeve may remain in place and the plugwill again be interlocked therewith lby tapping it with a hammer.

The lengths of the riser 14 and the ferrule 16 are a matter of choice.Some drain traps have a clean-out opening lying in a plane inclined atan angle to the horizontal, and the term riser as herein used isintended to apply also to the latter type of opening. Further, since theinvention is applicable also to other purposes, the opening to which itis applied may be at any angle to the horizontal or vertical.

Ordinary lead is sufficiently iiaccid or soft at ordinary temperaturesto permit it to be deformed in the manner described above without riskof tearing or breaking through the wall 22 of the sleeve. Moreover, thedepth of the grooves 24, 25 in the sleeve 2 may be very small, and insome cases the outer :surface of the sleeve may even be rela-tivelysmooth. It has been found, however, that a better and tighter seal ofthe sleeve within the threaded or grooved opening of the riser 14 or thefen rule 16 is attained with the grooves at a spacing equal to thespacing of the grooves 20, or substantially so.

VWhile the trap 13 including the riser 14, and the ferrule 16, have beenstated above to be made of cast iron, which is the material mostcommonly used in sewer connections, the material need not be so limited.'For any or all of such parts may be made of any other metal or alloypossessing the desired or requisite property of hardness in contrast tothe softness of lead. The exaoY pression hard metal as used in theappended claims is therefore intended to embrace all metals and alloyswhich are known to be so much harder than lead that they retain theirshape and conformation while lead is being deformed under pressureagainst any part or surface of the hard metal. It is to be noted that,although the plug 26 is illustrated and described as having its lowerend of larger diameter than the lower end of the sleeve 21, that wouldnot be the case if the plug were substantially lengthened axially, forexample doubled in length, but such a plug would involve an unnecessaryexcess use of material.

The invention having thus been described, what is claimed and desired tobe secured by Letters Patent is as follows:

l. In a drain trap of hard metal including a riser which is open at thetop, the riser having an internal shoulder spaced below the top thereof,extension means for increasing the height of the riser comprising aferrule of hard metal resting on said shoulder and extending above `saidopen top and provided with axially spaced internal grooves, meanssealing the joint between the riser and the ferrule and means forforming a closure for the open upper end of the ferrule, said last-namedmeans comprising a tapering lead sleeve having axially spacedcircumferential ridges on the external surface thereof, the sleeveregistering in said upper end of the lferrule and having `an externalflange on the larger end thereof res-ting on the rim of said upper endof the errule with said ridges completely filling said internal grooves,and a complementarily tapering plug of hard metal frictienally engaged-in said sleeve.

2. A device according to claim 1, wherein the tapering surface of saidplug is provided with projections which penetrate the internal surfaceof the sleeve.

3. A device according to claim l, wherein the tapering surface of saidplug is provided with axially spaced ridges which penetrate the internalsurface of the sleeve.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 92,020 6/69 Dacey137--247 .27 306,268 10/84 Lawler 137--247-35 306,527 10/84 Reuter.

674,903 5/01 Callaway 220-245 2,543,430 2/51 Anderson 220-24-5 ISADORWEIL, Primary Examiner.

1. IN A DRAIN TRAP OF HARD METAL INCLUDING A RISER WHICH IS OPEN AT THETOP, THE RISE HAVING AN INTERNAL SHOULDER SPACED BELOW THE TOP THEREOF,EXTENSION MEANS FOR INCREASING THE HEIGHT OF THE RISER COMPRISING AFERRULE OF HARD METAL RESTING ON SAID SHOULDER AND EXTENDING ABOVE SAIDOPEN TOP AND PROVIDED WITH AXIALLY SPACED INTERNAL GROOVES, MEANSSEALING THE JOINT BETWEEN THE RISER AND THE FERRULE AND MEANS FORFORMING A CLOSURE FOR THE OPEN UPPER END OF THE FERRULE, SAID LAST-NAMEDMEANS COMPRISING A TAPERING LEAD SLEEVE HAVING AXIALLY SPACEDCIRCUMFERENTIALLY RIDGES ON THE EXTERNAL SURFACE THEREOF, THE SLEEVEREGISTERING IN SAID UPPER END OF THE FERRULE AND HAVING AN EXTERNALFLANGE ON THE LARGER END THEREOF RESTING ON THE RIM OF SAID UPPER END OFTHE FERRULE WITH SAID RIDGES COMPLETELY FILLING SAID INTERNAL GROOVES,AND A COMPLEMENTARILY TAPERING PLUG OF HARD METAL FRICTIONALLY ENGAGEDIN SAID SLEEVE.